


Price

by silurica



Series: Look to Love, Always [18]
Category: Fallen London | Echo Bazaar
Genre: M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:55:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28262007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silurica/pseuds/silurica
Summary: An agent recounts his worries for the man who is both his target and his admired.
Series: Look to Love, Always [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2068755





	Price

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as an entry for [Memories of Fallen London Competition](http://www.failbettergames.com/fallen-london-is-10/), Worst Idea of the Decade category.
> 
> This one ended up being more experimental than I planned it to, mostly because I was working with a strict character limit and I had _a lot_ I wanted to cover (Chizuru is a man of many stories). I think it might have been too dramatic/moody for the category too.

The Enthusiastic Visitor doesn’t like the Neath as much as it seems. Yes, it’s full of wonders, from the Blemmigans to the Rubbery Men. Yes, the place never fails to surprise him on each visit, even if the food never meets his standards. So, what’s wrong?

“He” has taken out his own eye. It was no ruse; there is only void behind those white bandages. In the remaining eye, an emptiness.

The Visitor can’t fulfill the mission entrusted to him. “He” will die if taken back to the surface by force. For now, let’s report this and wait.

In their next meeting, “he” has a bandage on his cheek and shows signs of pain on one shoulder. His sins have caught up to him, so “he” claims.

An agreement was reached: “he” may stay in London, but the Visitor will check on him every month or so. The Visitor can’t help reminiscing the past. Sharing words and gestures, like they used to. “He” is a target, but also a friend.

Another meeting, “he” keeps coughing up blood. Apparently there is an unhealing wound on his chest.

The Visitor listens intently. The spider that is now a child. The Liberation of Night. “He” sounds happy, but the emptiness in his eye remains. Is this fine?

Later, “he” shows up with bandaged hands – burn wounds from clumsy handling of lead plaques. The Visitor can’t ignore those wounds anymore. Still, “he” only smiles.

Recently, “he” disappeared for some time. When “he” returns, his tongue has been marked, his memories fragmented.

_Coming to the Neath has done nothing good for you, Chizuru-han. Is revenge that important for you? Even if you would burn into ashes at the end?_

How the Visitor wished he could save him, but quiet is all he can offer.


End file.
